The Child Is Light
by The Jaye Benjamin
Summary: Blessed by the legendary "Triune of Being", Alphie has a rare gift only he can use to thwart a fierce darkness as he is thrown into a journey no ten-year-old could ever handle. NEW REGION. R&R and stuff, please!
1. The Gift

**Chapter One**

**The Gift**

The island was shining. The annual Triune of Being Festival was as impressive as ever. Music and entertainment, it was an island-wide party. This year it was more important.

This year, the Triune of Being were coming to visit.

For six months, every seer, every oracle, every clairvoyant chanted the same story, in the same words, with the same monotone:

_"From their still water the Triune will come,  
On their festive day, with a centered sun."_

In the middle of Siliet Island was a lake of crystal-blue water, completely manmade and uninhabited by any pokémon. In the centre of the lake was an altar of mahogany atop which three candles formed a triangle around a golden ornament that consisted of three interlinked rings. Behind the altar stood an ancient priest with a shining silver beard trailing to his feet and large white turban wrapped to look like Uxie's helmet. There was even a small red gem exactly in the middle. On either side of him were golden bells with blue and red beings draping from them like banners – chimecho. They sang quietly as the carnival went quiet.

Noon struck and, as the oracles said, three white lights appeared before the altar, shining and twisting into the shapes of three beings. As the white faded, the beings solidified and became coloured. All three supported themselves in midair silently as the island sunk onto one knee, heads down, worshipping their gods of knowledge, emotion and willpower.

The priest bowed from behind the altar and even the chimecho seemed to bow in their own way. However, an instant later, they flashed and were gone again. The island began to murmur in confusion, all except one woman, whose eyes widened as she bowed her head to her bulging stomach. Her water broke.

---

Ten minutes later she was in an emergency tent, pushing, screaming and crying. Her husband cried alongside her, though nobody could be sure whether it was because his wife was in pain or his own hand, which the woman squeezed relentlessly as she groaned and screamed.

This continued for exactly six more hours, and then the woman rested, smiling and huffing. She was sore, her stomach muscles were on fire, and her eyes were stinging and dry. Her husband leaned over, pressed his own tear-soaked lips to hers. They parted heads and the doctor swept around the bed, holding a red, crying baby with wispy blonde hair clinging to its scalp.

The woman smiled at the child. A gift so rewarding after such a simple sacrifice of pain. The creation of life. The doctors turned their backs and froze – literally. All of time completely came to a stop. The monitors around them stopped beeping; the place was completely still, except for one person. The woman looked around, dazed. The thick silence brought on questions: was she dead? Had she died after giving birth? Will her newborn ever have a mother?

She looked down at her newborn child, who looked back with eyes squeezed shut and a wide mouth. The woman then stared around, scared enough to cry, though she had already used her tears up. The room dissolved around her, melting into whiteness that swirled, though it was all one colour. It was now just her, the bed and the child.

She closed her eyes for only a moment, though when she opened them, there was a presence in the room. Or more like three. Her eyelids flashed apart and she saw around her, six blue-gray tails that connected to the blue-gray bodies that connected to the different-coloured heads.

Directly in front of her was the pink-headed Mesprit, smiling playfully at the child. To the left was the yellow-helmeted Uxie, clenching his eyes shut, yet still showing the smallest of smiles. To the right was the blue-topped Azelf, smiling like his brothers and wide-eyed with anticipation.

Mesprit floated forward first and touched the child's head. A pink aura ignited around the two as the pokémon transferred his own emotion into the boy. Uxie was second, joining his brother in touching the boy's forehead, transferring knowledge into his mind as the aura turned a rosy-gold colour. And finally, Azelf floated forward, placing a precarious hand on the boy's forehead and glowing blue as he transferred his own willpower into the child's head, causing the aura to turn white, almost blinding the mother as she watched her son being blessed.

Moments that seemed like hours passed in the silent white world she was seated in. The two pokémon with open eyes stared reassuringly at her, their smiles remaining. Their glows subsided and they drifted backwards.

_"__Your child is gifted,"_Mesprit's voice echoed through the woman's mind, piercing the silence of the white world, _"with the power of emotion."_

_"__My gift of willpower,"_ said Azelf, who stared calmly into her eyes.

_"And my power of knowledge,"_ Uxie said.

The beings of knowledge and willpower drifted around the bed and behind their first brother.

_"This child is light,"_ the three said. The mixture of psychic speech was surprisingly not as headache inducing as one would think. _"Keep him safe."_

The woman blinked and they disappeared, along with the white world, which dissolved back into the Festival medical tent. Loud beeping told her that time had started back up. Her husband looked at her, a worried expression on his face. The baby screamed and whined at the air it now had to breathe. The mother stared down at the little boy. In between two blinks, she could have sworn a white aura swirled around him. She shook it out of her mind and gave the baby back to the doctor.

Her husband planted another kiss on her cheek.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding husky and dry. "You kinda spaced out for a moment there."

"I'm fine," she reassured, breathing heavily. "And I have a name."

"Mmm?"

"Alpsonso Jeremiah."

"... Alphonso Jeremiah?" He sounded a little wary at the name. He hadn't been on the island long, so he wasn't accustomed to their use of unusual names. He did nod once, however, and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Alphie. AJ. Can't get many bad nicknames out of that. Alphonso Jeremiah Princeton it is."

The mother smiled tiredly and fell backwards onto the pillow and into a well-earned sleep.

_"__The child is light..."_

---

**Author's Note**: Mkay, this is my second crack at a fic. I lost interest in the first.

I call the Lake Trio the "Triad of Being" throughout this fic – just thought you should know that. The people of Siliet Island are extremely religious, their religion revolving around the legendary pokémon and some legendary people. So Arceus is the God of creation, existence, light, also known as the King of the Gods; Mew is the god of joy, entertainment, jokes and pranks... and so forth. The island is very outgoing and festive, always letting tourists in and stuff. I'll put up a full list of the gods sometime soon, when most of the plot seems to be unfolding.


	2. Graduate

**Chapter Two**

**Graduate**

Alphie's pen raced along the paper. It was his final exam before he could get his trainer's license, and if he didn't pass this, he would not be able to get it. He knew he would pass, though, and with those clichéd flying colours. He was gifted with knowledge, after all. He had found himself in the white world many times since he can remember, all in dreams or when randomly strolling through the barren alleyway on his way home from school. Each time, the word "light" echoed in his head, and then he would see three transparent beings move, then vanish. He knew the dreams all too well.

His eyes darted to the clock at the front of the room. Still fifteen minutes left. He continued to write. Something just made him write faster and with more detail. Something was telling him that passing this test would set his life out in front of him. But how? He was only doing this to go on the pokémon journey he was told to go on. He barely knew the reason why he was meant to. It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was that he had no reason not to.

The final question, _list the procedures used to cure a vileplume's stun spore from a human and explain how such medical findings are a breakthrough in today's society._

The School was for those who were aspiring to become trainers. In the Naiho region, laws had been put into place forbidding pokémon journeys of anybody who cannot complete the Trainer School course. However, the course doesn't finish until the trainer is at least sixteen, and by then, the majority of the school had dropped out and gone to work in the real world. One in six trainers make it through to graduation, and from that, only half of them ever end up making it through the gym challenge, proving that theory is nothing compared to the real thing. The endurance, the pain, the skill and the courage needed are so frightening to most people that they just drop out.

The reason why this was all set up was for one reason: success ratings. Naiho had the highest rates of successful trainers in the world and it was all because of this system. The government of Naiho knew that there was no way ten-year-old children could handle travelling entire countries, it just leaves them completely vulnerable to paedophiles and kidnappers. Even the strongest pokémon couldn't help a child being kidnapped when it's trapped inside a red and white capsule. Sixteen-year-olds were much less appealing to these sorts of people, and were a lot harder to catch.

They also learn in their extra half-dozen years another trait that the typical ten-year-old usually doesn't carry, and that was determination. Children give up so much easier than adolescents. Their mushy little hearts yearn too much for the safety of their family that they barely get to the first gym before they miss their parents and turn and go home.

Ten-year-olds just weren't cut out for training pokémon. It was a fact.

Alphie loved pokémon. It was hard to come across someone in the world who didn't, though he was sure they existed, and he resented them, but never really dwelled on it. This wasn't the reason he chose to go on this journey, though. His decision was made for him by gods. An invisible figure sometimes stood before him in his white world dreams. It told him that he was given his gift to "destroy the darkness" or something. Alphie believed whatever talked to him in these dreams. The island's oracles had been predicting something about "darkness" for almost a year now, though nothing happened.

Pens down, it was time to leave the examination hall. Shaking a hand through his hair, he stood and joined the small crowd of students in shuffling out of the hall and into an open quadrangle where chatter about the exam suddenly sprung up. He smiled a little and headed over to his group of 'friends'.

Well at least they made themselves his friends. The group was made up of three smaller groups, two pairs and one group of three, then him. Arielle, the "queen bee" girl of the group of three was the first to come up to Alphie, a little precariously, and the other two, Serina and Bartholomew followed, the same cautious looks on their faces.

They knew. They knew he had the 'gift', but were more scared of it than intrigued. Arielle was actually one of the first to see it in action, and it scared her into being his friend. She didn't like him at all at the time. Actually, none of the friends around him liked him before he had that little... episode, which was what Arielle was caught up in.

Alphie, since birth, was gifted with psychic abilities that were brought on by his enhanced emotions, knowledge and willpower given to him by the Triune of Being, Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf. His whole life he had tried to find a way to train these powers for use. He never got the hang of it by himself.

At times of dire emotional shifting, such as from going from happy to extremely frustrated or panicky, his 'gift' would go out of whack. He would uncontrollably begin to glow, levitate himself and the things around him. The only two ways to snap him out of it was to either let him calm down over time or to get a dark-type pokémon out to him. This problem was what, as mentioned just before, Arielle once got caught up in. And in fear of ever having to go through it again, she allowed him to join their little circle of friends.

Alphie never really liked them; it was just nice to have company. Their presence gave him a sense of belonging, even if the only reason they hung around was because they were _scared_. They soon got used to Alphie, though, and he never caused any trouble afterwards. He'd go out with them every now and then, shopping, or just random loitering, or "chilling" as they liked to call it. He never really wanted to go travelling with them. They could go with each other. He wanted to do his journeying alone.

"How do you think you went?" Arielle chirped. Her green eyes glinted as she played with her dark hair. Alphie just smiled back at her and shrugged. "I totally screwed up on that last question. I forgot about that Sangora Weed Tea and stuff."

"Oh, Uxie! I forgot that, too!" Serina said, bringing a slender hand up to slap her pale forehead.

"Ah, let's just forget about it for a bit," Bartholomew said, bringing his fairly buff arms over his friends' shoulders. "I bet some shopping would fix it up." Yeah. Bart was gay. Some thought he had his eye on Alphie, though nobody had confirmed it. "Coming, Alphs?"

"I'll stay," Alphie replied, shaking his head. "I have to send the Professor my application for a starter."

With that, the three walked off out of the school grounds. Alphie headed back home slowly. Indeed, he did need to apply for a starter pokémon. That still didn't mean he wanted to go shopping. He wasn't in the mood for that.

---

A week later, Alphie had completely graduated, ceremony and everything, and was now awaiting his reply from Professor Aspen, the Pokémon Professor of Naiho. Well today was the predicted day. Word on the street was that Siliet Island got the letters the day before and they were being distributed on that day.

Alphie's came at noon.

He sat at his kitchen bench, mother before him, father behind him, all watching, anticipating the letter's contents.

_Alphonso Jeremiah Princeton,_

The letter started off formally, and continued in that manner:

_Although your examination results were enlightening, it is of intense regret to tell you that you have been declined a starter pokémon this year. As you may know there are only a few starters, and many applying trainers. In comparison to some of the other trainers, you are one of the most capable. However, there are a few trainers who are more capable than you._

_Feel free to reapply in a year for the next starter generation, I will be expecting it._

_Regards,  
Prof. Joanne Aspen  
(The Pokémon Professor and Governor of Breeding Programs)_

The letter was short, though the three were staring at it for over five minutes, reading it over and over. For every passing moment, anger bubbled higher and higher, like a volcano ready to erupt.

Alphie received top marks in every exam. He knew his work back to front. He studied for at least five hours every day just to get this pokémon. Everyone knew Professor Aspen accepted anyone who would get over ninety per cent on their exams. That was Alphie. Those who were accepted were paired with the most promising of pokémon in the region, brought up by capable breeders and the Professor herself, taught to train and battle from birth. Alphie got one of the top marks in the country. Why didn't he get one?

He tried not to let his emotions get to him. He tried so hard. And until he got into his room, it worked. His eys rolled back into his head, he fell onto his bed and began to glow. The room melted away and he was left in the familiar white world. Hairbrushes, alarm clocks, various other items from back in his room appeared and disappeared from existence, briskly whisking around him before they faded back out of the white.

---

**Author's Note**: There's Alphie, in 'action'. While I was writing it up, though, I felt it seemed a little boring. And Lame. Lamelamelame. :/ I dunno, make your judgments, please xD


	3. Carnival Apocalypse

**Chapter Three**

**Carnival Apocalypse**

The day of the annual Shaymin festival had arrived. It was now the last day of spring, the almost-summer sun pelted heat at the island as it started up Ferris wheels and carousels. Circus tents were dotted here and there, along with strange gypsy women with large green and white bird pokémon, claiming they could see the future. Alphie stayed away from these people. They were scammers; none of them really saw the future.

He wandered fairly far behind Bartholomew and Arielle, who were now apparently dating. They held hands and continuously cuddled. It made Alphie feel out of place. He didn't understand why Bart wouldn't just tell her he was gay. It was fairly clear, even without having to read his mind. Ari said something into Bart's ear and pointed off towards a tent draped in black and purple, atop which a murkrow stoo, cawing softly and glaring around at the passers-by.

Another fortune teller, scamming for money. They'd been to almost every one for the last kilometre, trying to test their love or compatibility something. Alphie only followed them into the tent because he didn't want to look rude or suspicious for not going with them.

Inside the tent would have been pitch-black had it not been for the candles and very few lights, and the glowing white sphere on the wooden round table in the middle of the room. Another murkrow roosted atop a cabinet at the back of the room, surrounded by weird ornaments. Alphie only recognised one; three golden, interlinked circles – the Triune of Being symbol – were attached to a golden necklace around the murkrow's neck.

The murkrow cawed and from behind the wall separating the two rooms of the tent, a woman clad in purple appeared, her dark eyes staring with a dark, but warm glint at her three next victims. Arielle bounced forward, grinning.

"Hi, hi, hi!"

"Enthusiastic, are we?" the strange woman said with a smile. She then flicked her arms out and smiled back, striding forward. "I am Madame Esmeralda!" – She was the third Madame Esmeralda they'd been to – "and I have predicted your arrival!" – So did the others – "And that you are here for a prediction about... money." – Ari shook her head – "pokémon journeys." – another shake of the head. 'Madame Esmeralda bit her lip and squinted her eyes, trying to make herself look like she was concentrating on their thoughts – "hhhhhhheeeeeeeepaaaaaaaiiiiiiifffffffffaaaaaaaammmmmmeeeeeeerrrrrlllllllloooooo—love! Yes, love. I knew it."

Instantly Esmeralda embraced the little dark-haired girl, before moving on to Bart, who bounced femininely into another hug. Madame Esmeralda hesitated before Alphie and turned herself to address Arielle.

"You have another friend, don't you?" the woman asked, tilting her aged head. "Eeeeeeeeeeerrraaaaahhhhhhhhrrrrrrssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeee—"

"Serina?" Arielle chirped, bringing her hands together.

"Yes, Serina! Where is she?"

"Sick," Alphie said quickly and with a drop of poison added. He really didn't like fortune tellers.

Esmeralda didn't pick up on it, unfortunately. She just nodded and embraced Alphie. She felt his pocket as she did so to check how fat his wallet was. Alphie rolled his eyes as she let go. Definitely a scammer.

The three were motioned to the round table, where they each sat on their individual wooden stools. The murkrow cawed gently, staring coldly at Alphie. Alphie stared back for the duration of the woman's little act, only half listening to her unnecessary drawling.

Madame Esmerelda's hands drifted shakily over her 'crystal ball'. She peered with focused eyes into it, murmuring her 'findings'. Stuff like, "your lives have been changing due to this romance" and "there will be some hard roads" though she never really said anything until she got her little cards out. She placed them in order and did her little flipping thing before she glanced up.

"Your love is strong, and durable," she said, glancing at an ugly watch on her wrist. "It will survive over a long period of time, though you will experience fallouts. And that's all the time you have for now. Pay another twenty dollars and I'll continue for another fifteen minutes...?"

Alphie looked at Ari pleadingly. He didn't want to spend another minute in this place.

The murkrow cawed again.

"No thanks," Bart said, to Alphie's relief. "We've heard enough. Let's go win you a poochyena plushie!"

"Ooh, cute!" Ari squealed as they stood and headed out of the tent. How lame.

Alphie followed, though a little slowly, so he could remain in his position at least two metres behind them. Once the two were out of the tent, he turned to glance quickly back at the murkrow with the Triune of Being necklace, but saw the wrinkled face of Madame Esmeralda staring with wide eyes into his own eyes instead. She breathed in gasps as her murkrow began fluttering around the room, the candles blowing out at the beat of its wings. The only source of light now was the glowing crystal ball.

Alphie was paralysed with fear. The woman's heavily jewelled left hand clamped onto his shoulder tightly like a shellder to a slowpoke's tail. In between gasps she began talking, the murkrow cawing loudly as it flew in circles through the shadows above.

"Todaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay – it – is – _releeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaased!_" she gasped, eyes slowly rolling backwards. She seemed to half have an epileptic fit on every word. "Niiiiiiiiiiightfall – briiiiiiiiiings – mooooooore – than – niiiiiiiiiiiiight!" Her words became louder and more ominous. "_HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE THE LIGHT. HIDE LIGHT. HIDE THE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT_!"

Her grip on his shoulder was slowly released as she fell on her back, unconscious.

---

The whiteness swirled around her as she walked. Objects faded in and out until she found what she needed. She hadn't been here for sixteen years, since the birth of her child, yet last time was different. Last time she was here with the Triune. Now she was alone, though every now and then she could feel a certain invisible presence fly around her. She was half-alone.

She continued to walk, eyes staring blindly in front of her, like she was possessed. Her arm reached out and touched a wooden surface, which rippled into existence before her. She fell from the dazed stare and looked down at the computer desk that she had set up in the newly-built study room. She took a blank sheet of paper from the printer and a pen from the pencil case under the computer's static screen.

With gentle scratching piercing the eerie silence, she wrote a letter, folded it, and labelled it _Read Me_. There was thick silence once again. Her invisible companion swished around her, directing her away from the desk, which vanished the same way it had appeared.

After several more steps, whatever was making her move made her stop. She was mow staring into blank, white space, which swirled on. She blinked, and before her, the Triune appeared again. The three beings of willpower, emotion and knowledge hovered in a line at eye level. All three looked more worried than anything, even Uxie, with his eyes sealed shut.

It was Mesprit that spoke first.

"_Keep the child safe."_ The words echoed all-too familiarly through her head. She nodded, mouth kept shut by some kind of force. She knew she wasn't allowed to speak. _"He must get to the Amber Altar."_

"_The child is light," _Uxie said from beside his brother. _"Nightfall brings more than night."_

"_Hide the light," _Azelf said, holding out an arm. The letter in her hand was instantly teleported into the hand he had held out. _"Protect the Lord's creations from –" _The Triune froze. Uxie opened his eyes and, careful not to look into the child's mother's eyes, he spun around. A fearful expression could be seen on his face and he disappeared along with Mesprit.

"_It comes."_ Azelf said, eyes falling downwards, looking distressed. He followed his brothers, vanishing into the white.

The woman watched the white world melt back into her home. She stood in a corner of her lounge room, holding the letter from before, breathing heavily. Shaking and sweating, she turned to look at the room, everything was normal, just frozen in time. When she realized this, time started back up and her husband entered from the kitchen. He jumped at her sudden appearance in the room and strode over to her, placing a careful arm over her shoulder, which made her flinch and gasp, and took the letter from her hands.

"Where's Alphie?" he asked, glancing out the window after reading the letter. Black clouds blanketed the previously-clear sky. Thunder erupted inside the clouds as they began to spit.

"F-f-festival."

---

Alphie was quick to leave the tent. After the woman's threat, he made sure not to go into another gypsy fortune-telling tent afterwards. In fact, he didn't do much else the entire day. He followed Ari and Bart more closely now, and although it made him feel like even more of a third-wheel, it made him feel safe from any other fortune tellers.

That was a real premonition. Judging by the rest of the tent situation, Madame Esmeralda was clearly not a seer, it was all guesses and good luck. But, that one premonition... that was genuine. And it scared Alphie, he was shaking and sweating – wait, not sweating. It was raining. He hadn't noticed that the sky had darkened since he'd been in the tent and it was now dropping down large drops of murky water.

Something grabbed Alphie by the wrist as Arielle and Bartholomew were admitted on the carousel. He was tugged from the queue and when he turned around he saw Serina's thin body marching through the crowd. She wore a pale pink jacket over a white top with pale blue jeans with simple white trainers and was almost running as she pulled him into a clearing in the crowd. She spun around and looked into his eyes.

Something was wrong. She looked like death, pale, even for her, and bony like she hadn't eaten for months. She'd only gotten sick that morning, so she couldn't look like this. Her blue eyes looked into his brown ones with sheer chaos. She turned and buckled, coughing up blood. From the walls of the clearing, a woman cried for a medic. Serina lifted her hand at the woman and immediately her mouth closed and she went back to her business.

Alphie kneeled next to Serina, worried. He didn't like this.

"Something's wrong..." he muttered to her. She nodded feebly before bursting quietly into tears. She fell onto her front and wept quietly. People were staring. "Get up; we have to go. We need to get you to a hos— Mum?"

From the edge of the crowd, his own eyes stared back at him from an older, female body. His mother inhaled deeply and strode forward. Her face was blotchy and shiny, like she had been crying. It wasn't until she came closer that he noticed the folded piece of paper in her shaking hand. Serina coughed up darker blood, every cough blackening the fluid more, as Alphie's mother came ever closer. The woman kneeled before them, shaking her blonde hair back and letting a few more tears go.

And then the whole island shook.

A dark mist began to spread around their feet. Serina gasped over and over, coughing and choking and spluttering. The black mist thickened. Alphie and his mother stood. The island rumbled again, there were screams from various directions. There was an explosion close-by as the mist thickened more, two silhouetted figures flew overhead, landing somewhere where another woman screamed.

"Alphie take this and run!" his mother pleaded, staring fearfully into his eyes. "Your father is waiting by the ferris wheel, go!"

Alphie had a sinister feeling that this would the last time he saw his mother for a long time. He embraced her tight, taking the letter from her hand and ran. When he reached the edge of the crowd, he turned for one more glance at his mother. She stared back, trying to smooth her crinkled face for reassurance, though the tears continued to cascade from her eyes.

Ari and Bart came for Serina a second later, helping her up with scared faces. There was another tremor and a few more screams. Alphie could swear the black fog below him was growing claws, which gripped at the cuffs of his jeans, slowing his running down.

He reached the ferris wheel, where his father stood with a small, green bird – a Natu – on his left shoulder. In the man's right hand was Alphie's gray backpack, which looked fairly full. Always the strong man who thought to cry was to show weakness, he was not showing tears like his wife. Instead, he thrust the bag out to his son with a confident expression across his face.

"It's time for you to start your journey," he said, voice faltering a little as Alphie took the bag. That clichéd foreboding cold chill raced up his spine. The Natu hopped over onto his shoulder. "Natu, tele—"

"Wait!" Alphie turned to see Serina squeeze through the crowd. She looked worse than she had a few minutes ago. Her eyes were once again pleading to him. "I'm coming with you!"

"He has to do this alo—" the man began.

"I-I have to protect him," Serina interrupted. "T-the Triune. He's... light." She gripped Alphie's hand and before his father could object again, she coughed out (with not so much blood as before), "Natu, use teleport!"

Everything went white.


	4. Route 232

**Chapter Four**

**Route 232**

It was nightfall when his white surroundings faded to colour. He found himself doubling over in a hilly field of lush grass as green as a ludicolo's hat. He'd never travelled by teleportation before, and it made him sick. He shook violently and breathed heavily, trying to keep the contents of his stomach down. He felt Serina's grip falter and slip away before a thud made him aware she had collapsed.

Behind him was a river, flowing down the hillside they were on. He crawled over to it, scooped the water into his hand and flicked it onto his face. It seemed to relieve the urge to throw up a little, so he repeated it once more before watching the water go still. He stared into his reflection. His blonde hair, wet around his face, was of a medium length, coming down to his eyes at the front, but not too far past his ears at the sides. His eyes were still that muddy brown they had always been and his clothes were the same as they were at the carnival.

He was fully intact. He just hoped the rest of the island was, too.

There was an explosion in the east: the same direction as Siliet Island. His immediate attention was directed to a sudden column of darkness shooting up into the dark clouds above. After a moment it disappeared, though the clouds remained, flashing white with lightning.

Alphie rubbed his eyes and crawled back to Serina, turning her from her side and lifting her back off the ground to place her in a sitting position. She coughed a little, though no blood followed, and she opened her eyes. She already looked a lot better, her face had more colour and she was a lot less skeletal. A bit of food and she would be fine.

"Alphie..." she slurred, still half-passed out. "The letter..."

It was then that Alphie remembered the folded piece of paper in his hands. Careful not to drop the girl onto her back, he shifted around to take the letter from the hand holding the girl up and flipped it open. He took in a breath as he noticed the neat curves of his mother's writing.

_Alphie, you need to get to the Amber Altar.  
You are light. Quell the darkness.  
Triune guide you,  
D.P_

D.P, this initials of his mother, Desdemona Princeton. He felt a pain in his chest, close to the heart. He missed her already. He wanted to go back to her, but he knew he could not. Nevertheless, he still searched around for that Natu. He should at least send back a message. However, instead of a Natu, he found a small, pink blob with a wide mouth and tiny eyes.

"Ditto," it said, before glowing white, morphing into a pidgey and taking off, flying south.

Great. He didn't know where he was, his only companion was half unconscious and human, and he had no way to defend himself if any wild pokémon attacked. He was going to die.

He was shivering. The cold was really getting to him; it was probably the altitude or something. He had nothing to keep himself warm – or so he thought. After looking around and jumping at the slightest movement in the grass, he found his bag dropped a few metres away. He shakily crawled over to it and unzipped it open.

There were ten round, minimized capsules, only a few were filled. Alphie took out three that were filled and placed them in front of him.

They were item capsules, designed like pokéballs for easy storage of large items, a necessity for all travellers. They were light-weight, distinguishable from normal pokéballs (as they had a clear top half, which showed which items were inside) and were easy enough to use. The first item capsule contained an easy-build tent; the second capsule contained the Naiho Region Town Map, a sleeping bag and about three-thousand dollars; the third capsule contained camping utensils such as a small electric stove and plastic plates, bowls, cups and cutlery. So he wasn't going to die of hypothermia or pneumonia.

Setting up the tent wasn't hard. Halfway through, Serina decided she'd stop being unconscious and help him with it, so it was up in only a small span of time. Alphie decided to let Serina sleep in the tent with the sleeping bag, as it was only roomy enough for one person, and he wasn't coughing up blood earlier that day, or unconscious a mere five minutes before.

He did stay close to the tent, however, in case any predatory pokémon decided to show up, and used the map to keep himself as warm as possible. Serina even offered her own jacket to keep his legs warm, which he accepted only after she said she couldn't possibly wear it with the sleeping bag being warm enough as it was.

And so, in the darkness of the early night, they drifted into dreams.

---

_It was white. Again. Everything was white and swirling._

_He took a step forward and a black mist oozed from under his foot. He wasn't worried, though. He reached into his bag and pulled a pokéball, which was illuminated in the white light, almost blinding him. With every step he took, the black mist around his legs thickened._

_He threw the pokéball, which burst open as the white world melted away. He was now in a large office building, with a four-legged, black pokémon with two curved horns coming from its head._

_A pale, skinny girl stood at the opposite end of the room with her legs spread in some kind of battle stance. She yelled something that the dream muffled into nonexistence and threw her own pokéball. From the light, a small, round, blue pokémon appeared, three yellowy balls of fluff attached to its head and each arm. The black beast sprang forward, embers spurting from the gaps in its closed jaws. At its master's call, the round pokémon leapt behind the wall of an office cubicle right as the black beast's maw released a column of flames, which scorched the painted wood of the cubicle. The round pokémon then bounced into the air and twirled, releasing a strange purple powder, which rained on the black beast._

"_Curse you, girl!" His voice sounded different, a lot huskier and deeper and with an aggression he didn't understand. "Use crunch!"_

_He held out his arm, pointing at the round pokémon. Black mist spilled from his cuffs onto the floor. The pale girl began coughing aggressively, doubling over._

_---_

Sunlight pierced Alphie's eyelids, ending the dream by blanketing it in red. His eyes opened to a squint, the sunlight blinding him after the darkness of the night. It was sunrise – he had survived the night.

Coughing quietly, he sat up to look down at his map, which had slipped from his torso to his legs. Scanning the map with his eyes, he came to a familiar spot. It was a mountain, fairly tall, with flat, grassy slopes sliding from the top, along with a river rushing through the middle, dividing the grassy hill into two halves.

At the southern foot of the mountain was a small picture of a city. He checked the map's legend. The city was named Trinity City, a familiar name. He had been taught in school about this place. It was known for its yearly "Triune of Being" festivals, though they weren't as big as Siliet Island's. It was apparently a good-natured metropolis, sprawling with prosperity in the forms of both joy and riches. It was also the first stop after the trainers who were lucky enough to be given a starter pokémon from Professor Aspen got their first pokémon.

Which meant, halfway up the mountain was (Alphie's finger drew a line northwards up the mountain in his train of thought) Sproutling Town, the home of the renowned Pokémon Professor and the gate to the Amber Altar, which was at the peak of the mountain. He was closer to his destination than he thought.

All he had to do was climb a mountain.

Alphie coughed again as he crawled over to his bag and unzipped it. He figured he'd contracted a cold overnight, but that was inevitable. He pulled from the pack a fourth item capsule, which contained cans of both human and pokémon food. He opened the capsule and took the first can of baked beans he saw, reading the label.

He didn't like baked beans. His mother never did, either. Yet his father bought new cans every week, though he always ended up eating them on his own. The man never learned that his son didn't have the same tastes in things. Take sport for example; Alphie's father was a passionate sportsperson. If the man hadn't broken his ankle when he was fifteen (and not gotten it checked out, making it worse), he would still be playing some kind of sport. Instead, he's in constant pain and can only coach, or be part of a club's committee. Alphie hated most sports. He never got into them, never tried, and never had interest. He had a strong metabolism to keep him in shape.

He left the cans of baked beans out and returned the cans of pokémon food into its capsule. Maybe Serina liked them... if she was going to wake up.

As if on cue, the sound of ruffling sleeping bags came from inside the tent and the zipping of the tent opening. From inside, Serina crawled out. She looked groggy from tiredness, but other than that, completely healthy. There was the usual pinkish tinge to her pale face and her hair was less greasy and ratty. She took one look at the cans and cringed.

"I guess we won't be having them for breakfast then?" Alphie said, leaning back and using his arms to support his body. "We're going uphill to Freshling Town."

Serina raised both brows. "How do you know where we are?"

"I was looking at the map this morning," he explained, poking a finger towards the map that was sprawled on the grass next to him. "I couldn't find any other rivers that ran down a mountain – well, none that were west of Siliet Island." He reached over and grabbed the map and placing it back on his legs. "We're on Route 232" – he pointed to their location, between two clusters of tiny, drawn buildings – "It shouldn't be too much of a climb to Freshling. Once we get there, I have to convince the Professor to let me go through Route 231 and up to the Amber Altar. And then I do what I have to do."

"And what do you have to do?"

"I have no idea."

"Cool. We should head off soon, though, don't you think?"

---

**Author's Note**: The item capsule's thing was not my idea; it was Nyaa-Neko's. She uses them in her fic Poltergeist's, which is an amazing fic that semi-inspired this one.

In other news, I have finally graduated school. Forever. I did so on October 1st. BE PROUD. Now I just need to get a job... D:

Oh, and just putting this out there: "as green as a ludicolo's hat" is a simile I've ALWAYS wanted to use in a pokémon fic. And Yay, I used it!

Anyway, review, kiddos!


	5. Human Monster

**Chapter Five**

**Human Monster**

Her green lipstick swirled into a smile as she stood in her laboratory's research tower. Telescope in hand, she watched over the town and routes for mischief. She was like a superhero. Like Gligarman or whatever he called himself – the weird guy from Johto – like him, just a lot sexier and with more power.

She had power over everyone, political power, economical power and with this stunt; she'll have even more powe. Power generated by fear. Fear of the newly-formed Team Omega's impending reign, and she would be the monarch, the supreme ruler over all. Every person's movement would be watched and judged.

"And if anyone defies me," her green, curled lips formed even more of a smirk as she turned to the giant black monster to her side, addressing it, "you will show them what for, won't you, Sakrifer?"

The large circles in the dark fur of the pokémon's neck glowed and flickered red flames. The pokémon bared its teeth, which glistened maliciously as hot embers dripped from them, fizzling out as they fell to the floor. There was a dark glint in its eyes that seemed to give it a carnivorous, cannibalistic demeanour.

The woman looked into her telescope, directing it southwards down the mountain where a blonde boy and pale girl marched into the town.

"Ah, young Alphonso Princeton. I remember coming across his application for a starter pokémon, though the Professor didn't give him any, I made sure of that." She paused, breathing in the scent of overheated computers and newborn pokémon. "I think, Sakrifer, we should begin..."

"Phlo..."

---

"Took us a while," Serina whined playfully as they entered Sproutling Town. The buildings were fairly modern, as the town was only established a relatively small number of years ago. "Lab's fairly easy to find."

At the end of the main road was a large, building that looked a little like an ancient Greek temple. It was whitewashed with towering, circular columns and a triangular roof, decorated with patterns of cupids. Behind the triangular part of the roof, a large, round astronomy tower rose from the building, casting a large shadow over the street before them. Behind the lab winded a long path heading up the mountain into the clouds. Alphie guessed it led to the Amber Altar.

"Looks like we can't get to the altar without going through the lab first," he remarked as they came ever closer to the white building.

At the sides of the roads, people watched. Nobody had set foot in the lab for months, and none had even looked at it after that weird black beam of light from the east the night before. There were whispers, like they knew who Alphie was and what he was there for. The rumble of a growlithe's growl came from behind a stone wall, and that was the only true sound made, apart from their tapping footsteps and the neighbours' whispering.

Moments later, Alphie and Serina stopped at the stairs to the building. The pillars were decorated with life-sized, stone ornaments of baby pokémon, the Professor's signature area of expertise. The magnificent double doors were made of whitewashed stone, much like the rest of the building, and the windows were large with ancient Greek-like sills, heavy glass protecting the inside from the weather outside.

Instead of ogling over the majestic aesthetics, however, Alphie shook his eyes away from the building and stepped forward onto the first of six stone steps. There was a bright light from a window in the astronomy tower that spun and shined over the town, and then the eastern side of the tower was blasted open, rubble and dust flying over their heads. Alphie took a step back to get a better look just as a large chunk of whitewashed rock fell before him. If he hadn't stepped back, he would have been killed.

Feeling as though luck was on his side, Alphie darted up the stone steps, Serina behind him, and attempted to open the doors. He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't like the fact that he was running into a danger zone without pokémon for protection. However, he did it anyway.

The door wouldn't budge, it was too heavy. Serina stood to the side as a black smoke wafted around them from the roof, carrying a burning stench with it.

"Alphie, can't you use your... powers... to open the door?" She seemed reluctant to say the word "powers" for some reason. Alphie bit his lip.

"It doesn't come on command, but..." He watched her expression become pleading. There was something in there she wanted. "Okay, I'll try."

He stepped out precariously before the magnificent stone doors and held out his hands. He felt it would be easier to channel his gift that way. Alphie focused, eyes closed, picturing the door open over and over. Then, he began to glow pink, not the same blue hue most psychic pokémon glowed. The pink mixed with a bright gold and a moment later, the glow went white. There was a click that signalled that the door was being opened, and the swooshing made it legitimate.

"Happiny!"

Alphie opened his eyes. He hadn't opened the door at all. A small, pink, egg-shaped pokémon stood with its tiny arms holding the door open before them. The happiny chirped its own name again and a fairly tall, thin woman wandered in from room coming off the room inside. She wore a lab coat that had fresh green and blue stains on them and her mahogany hair, though tied back, still came down to the small of her back. Her green eyes briefly widened when she saw Alphie and Serina at the door.

"Hello," she said in a jingling voice before walking over next to the happiny. "Sorry, we're not – er – open at the moment. Professor Aspen's a little busy."

"Hi, I'm –"

"You're Alphonso Princeton, I know," she interrupted, turning around. Serina opened her mouth to introduce herself. "And I don't care who you are, girl. Alphonso can come in. Happiny, close the door after him. Yuki, watch the girl."

A second later there was a blue light at the ground. A small, pink and yellow pokémon with thick lips appeared next to them, squeaking its name – smoochum.

"And don't underestimate her," the woman said scathingly. "She's a lot stronger than she looks. Try to step past her and she'll have you pinned to the ground with her confusion attack, or frozen solid with an ice punch. Alphonso, come inside."

Alphie turned to Serina, giving her an apologetic smile. Serina smiled and waved her hand, gesturing her friend to head into the lab. Nodding, Alphie stepped over the threshold and into the reception room. It looked a lot more modernized inside than outside. The walls seemed like they were made purely of machines and metal. Little, coloured lights flashed in various areas and there was a quiet, yet constant beeping. In the middle of the room was a small row of uncomfortable-looking wooden chairs. The happiny slammed the door behind Alphie with a cute cry of its name.

"What was that up in the tower?" Alphie asked, glancing upwards.

"I-uh... nothing. Failed experiment. What are you here fo—"

"Sakrifer, use thunder punch!" a dark, feminine voice called from the next room. There was a roar and the wall separating the rooms began to spark wildly. The sparks quickly multiplied until it turned into a pure white light and exploded outwards, bits of metal very narrowly missing him as he prayed to the Triune for protection. Once the rubble and dust cleared, a woman standing next to a large, dark-furred creature stepped over flames into the room.

"Ah. Leanne, leave this boy," the new woman purred from toxic green lips. She also wore a lab coat, though it was a lot dirtier than the woman next to Alphie's was. She took a pokéball from a belt under her coat and threw it forward, releasing a large red and purple spider with dark, staring eyes. Alphie froze. Spiders were his Achilles heel for everything. Even a common house spider could have him on the ground in tears. A giant pokémon spider? Alphie was ready to faint. "Achilles, tie him up."

Alphie didn't have time to move, even if he could. The spider shot a strong blast of sticky string at him, which pushed him through the air and tied him around one of the wooden chairs, which were as unpleasant as he had predicted. The woman called Leanne took in a quick breath, fear radiating from her entire body, and she left the room at a quick walk.

The lady with the green lipstick stepped forward. She sported a heart-shaped face with full lips. Her hair, as black as her beast's fur, fell down just over her busty chest and her matching black eyes glinted with nothing but malevolency. Her hips swayed as she walked closer to him. She was a lot taller than he saw at first.

"P-professor?" Alphie stuttered, very quietly.

"No, not your silly professor," she said, bending to look him in the eye. "You don't need to know who I am; I just need to know what you are here for."

Alphie's bottom lip trembled, but he didn't make a noise. The woman was beautiful and seductive, it was clear. But she was also scary like her black beast, who growled flames in the background, and poisonous, like her arachnid, who clicked its pincers hungrily for the boy.

"Hush, hush, Achilles," the woman drawled, not even turning to reinforce her speech. "You can eat him later. That's only if he doesn't tell us what he's here for, tho—"

"Amber Altar." Alphie blurted out the words so quickly and loudly, it intercepted the shut every voice, growl and click in the room. "I-I want to go to Amber Altar—"

"To save the world from this terrible _darkness_ that coming, right?" the unnamed woman laughed out. "You're not the only one in touch with the Triune of Being."

"So, let me g—"

"No, I can't let you." In Alphie's mind, he was kicking the woman in the head. "Only Professor Aspen can, and she's a little tied up at the moment. Much like you. Want to go see her?"

Without waiting for a reply, the woman pulled a third pokéball from her waist and tossed it forward. From the light appeared a large, black bird with a black hat and huge, white chest feathers bulging from its front. It immediately took off and gripped Alphie's chair, lifting him into the air and out the room through the hole blasted open by the fire-necked creature into a corridor. At the end of the corridor was a whitewashed, stone spiral staircase. The black bird flew Alphie up these stairs, which came around in a full rotation a total of three times before they entered a dome-shaped room. In the middle of the room was an elderly woman in a lab coat. Her watery eyes stared at Alphie as he was brought in and placed in front of her.

"A-Alphonso P-Princeton!" He voice was shaky and dry. Her silver hair was matted, with thick ringlets and her face was shiny and blotchy from crying. "Wh-what..."

"Shut up, woman," the woman with the green lipstick growled, from the staircase. She came in a second later and slapped the older woman in the face. "Alphonso, this is Professor Aspen. Professor Aspen, Our dear Alphie here wants to go to the Amber Altar. Tell him the rules."

The Professor's eyes fell as she began to speak in the same, raspy voice from before. "Only people who have completed the Elite Four challenge or have some kind of higher political status are allowed to enter Route 231. Also, you must have a full team of pokémon, a P-Pokédex and a licence signed by a-a-all eight Gym leaders, the E-Elite Four and the Pokemon L-League Champion..."

"If you don't fit the criteria, you can't go through," the green-lipstick-woman finished, folding her arms with a dark smile. "But now that you're here, try to enjoy your stay. I know Achilles will."

As she said this, the spider from before crawled in over the side of the door and up onto the ceiling, clicking its pincers as hungrily as ever, cooing a soft, yet carnivorous, "Aria..."

"Yum, yum!" The woman smirked and left the room. "Enjoy your meal."

From above, the spider began to descend on a thick string of web. From its pincers, it released four purple pins, which split in the air and stabbed into both humans. Alphie screamed as two sharp pains shot from just above his knee into his spinal cord. He prayed to every God that came to his mind, over and over in his head, _save me!_

The room began to spin around him, and his head fell back. As his eyes blurred to a close, the fuzzy blob that was an Ariados grew ever bigger. The clicking of ravenous pincers and the stench of the warm poison that dripped onto his lap were the last things he could feel, smell, and hear before everything went white.


	6. Starter

**Chapter Six**

**Starter**

He was being guided by something that swished around him, invisible and in mid-air, like the perpetual whiteness that blinded him. A throbbing pain in his left leg caused him to grit his teeth as he hobbled in the direction the invisible being was taking him. He looked down at the two thin, purple needles sticking out sickly from his leg; a small, moist, red circle on his jeans framed each needle.

He didn't know what direction he was walking, whether he was moving upwards or downwards, not even why he was still walking. He was poisoned, in pain, and probably dying. Was this white world actually some kind of heaven? Had the spider actually eaten him?

"_You are still alive, though just barely."_

Before him appeared the yellow-helmeted Uxie, eyes tightly shut. The other two didn't appear.

"_I do not have much time. You need to get to the Amber Altar. Do whatever it takes."_

The being of knowledge held out its hands, conjuring a pokéball, minimized, into them. It then vanished, as quick as it had come, and Alphie felt a new weight in his bag. Uxie took in a sharp breath and spun around, eyes opening.

"_Farewell, Light."_

"But how do I..." Alphie started to say, before Uxie left disappeared, along with the invisible figure that was drifting around him. A moment later, the white world disappeared and Alphie was left in another field, feeling sick, like when he teleported via natu... or ditto. His leg didn't hurt anymore, and when he looked down at it, only the red circles were there, no purple needles.

There was no river in this field, though by looking at the sign oh-so-conveniently placed before him that he was on Route 233, east of Trinity City. The field was lined with thick wood and most of the grass was fairly tall, so Alphie couldn't get back to Trinity City without being attacked. He needed protection, a pokémon to keep him safe.

He took off his backpack and dropped to one knee. Unzipping it quickly, he searched through the bag and took out a smooth sphere. The first pokémon he saw, he would catch with this pokéball... somehow. He knew he had to weaken the pokémon first, with another pokémon, but he had no pokémon to do so. Something still compelled him to try anyway, he just had to have faith and believe he could catch it.

Without further contemplation, Alphie began walking east, towards Trinity, keeping an eye out for any pokémon that seemed strong, yet catchable. At the faintest rustle in the grass, he would turn and raise the ball, ready to throw, but it was most often just the wind. At one point, he even threw the ball, but totally missed and it sunk into the grass. As soon as Alphie stepped into the longer grass, however, to get the pokéball, a pair of white teeth sunk into his ankle and a little purple blur rushed away.

Most pokémon that jumped out at him, jumped away just as quickly, chased by either a sentret or a taillow. He was actually fairly close to Trinity City by the time he actually found anything.

There was a shake in the grass next to him; the wind had been stopped for a whole minute, so he knew that wasn't the cause. The only other cause he could think of was that it was a pokémon. Instantly, he threw the pokéball in his hand. It sunk into the grass and with a red light, it burst open and sucked something into it.

Alphie waded through the grass to where the light had just been, and crouched to pick up the pokéball. He watched as it shook in his hand, the white button glowing red, before bursting back open and letting whatever pokémon it caught fall back into the grass. Alphie fell backwards in defeat. He had no more pokéballs to catch a pokémon for protection, not friends to support him on his quest and the pokémon he had just tried catching was now about to jump out from the grass, which was now rustling as it came ever closer, and attack him.

From the grass, however, came a small, yellow seed with brown stripes and a tiny stalk coming from the top of it from which two tiny leaves poked out of top. It hopped onto his chest and beamed at him. Instantly he jumped to his feet and brushed the sunkern from his front. The seed fell back into the grass as Alphie waded back out into an open area.

Trinity wasn't really that far away. Though there was a wall of tall grass, he thought he could make it, so he ran for it. With each bounding step closer to the wall of grass, he became more apprehensive, however, and stopped right at its edge. The wall stretched a lot further than he expected. There was absolutely no doubt that if he tried to wade through it, he would be attacked. But how else would he get to the city? This was the final patch of grass before the route ended. He had to try.

So without further hesitation, Alphie began to wade through the thick grass. Small, concealed pokémon nipped at his ankles through his jeans as he went, but nothing huge came at him until he was almost out.

He felt something hard connect with his back, ripping into his shirt and pushing him down into the grass. He rolled to the side and stood. Behind him there was a high-pitched growl. He spun to only see the fat, stripy tail of a sentret poking out of the grass, swishing aggressively.

Alphie bolted towards the outside of the grass, where the city began, though when he made it, his pursuer bounded out behind him, same growl spearing through the air into his ears.

"Sh-shoo!" Alphie feebly ordered, waving his hands out. The sentret stalked closer, glaring hard. "Uh... huh-help? Somebody?"

Nobody was around.

The sentret leapt, pushing into his chest and tackling him down, then bouncing off his chest to stand on its tail. Alphie would have assumed it was a fighting stance if the pokémon hadn't turned to peer and listen into the grass. Alphie looked too. It was rustling. The sentret growled louder, before a small, yellow streak zipped through the air, flying over the mass of brown fur. The sunkern from before landed about a metre away and began to glow slightly green, then formed connection between itself and the sentret out of the same green glow.

Small bubbles seemed to flow through the green aura from the sentret and into the sunkern – an absorb attack. The green aura faded and the normal-type bounced in for a scratch attack, catching the seed in the face and throwing it into the nearest tree. The sunkern squealed and fainted. It must have been pretty weak.

The sentret turned for Alphie, beady eyes glaring.

"_Seeeeeeeeentreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!_"

Its call was loud and deep, and as it yelled, a black mist seeped from its mouth, and continued, through clenched teeth as it growled. It stalked forward, dark glare malicious, thin whiskers twitching, striped tail flicking, high-pitched growl persisting, ready to pounce once more. It bounded towards Alphie, claws outstretched, before a black blur crashed into it from the side, pushing it through the air, into the grass.

There was a period of about a minute of just rustling in the grass. As the scuffle between the black blur and the sentret continued, a dark-haired boy walked up next to him. His eyes were almond-shaped and he was dressed completely in black. He was also fairly tanned.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the sentret," he said. "You take your sunkern to the pokémon centre."

"But—" Alphie tried to tell him the sunkern wasn't his, but he interrupted before Alphie could get to the second word.

"Just go, I'll handle it."

Alphie shrugged and rushed over to the fallen sunkern, scooping it up in his hands and rushing it into the city.

---

It hadn't taken long to find the pokémon center. Amidst so many gray buildings, being the only one with a red roof and a giant, white 'P' on the sliding doors, it would have been the most idiotic thing Alphie had ever done if he had missed it.

He had been sitting in the waiting room for a total of ten minutes, talking to the same guy who saved him from the sentret. It turned out his name was Andrew, Andy for short, and he was a brand new trainer, hailing from the city they were now in. His houndour, the 'black blur' from before, was his starter, and he'd named it "Blacky". How original, right?

"Shut up, it was the only name I could think of," Andy mumbled, petting the black dog on his lap. It made whatever sound a dog would make if it was trying to purr like a cat. "And he likes it. Don't you, Blacky?"

The puppy yelped and wagged its tail.

"Oh, by the way, I caught that sentret from before..."

Alphie almost choked on his own saliva. _What?_

"But that thing tried to kill me!"

"It was only trying to defend its territory..."

"No, it was trying to kill me. Did you not see the black stuff coming from its mouth?" Alphie pointed to the pokéballs on Andy's belt, presuming one of them held the sentret.

"Black stuff? What are you talking about?"

"The 'darkness' or something. It was practically vomiting the stuff up!" Okay, a bit of an exaggeration. It still didn't work, though.

"Nothing was coming out of its mouth, Alphie," Andy reassured, reaching towards his belt. "Look, I'll show you. He's really a nice little critter, once you get to know him."

The pokéball opened and the same pokémon from before appeared on the coffee table separating them. It stood on its tail, slightly bruised.

"I have to heal him in a bit... but see? He looks perfectly safe."

That was true. The sentret actually smiled at Alphie, and bounced at his presence, before leaning in to sniff at his face. Alphie flinched backwards. He was a little apprehensive towards the pokémon – and who wouldn't have been, after what had happened before? He relaxed, though, as he realized he was being sniffed at.

"Alphie?" called the nurse from the front desk. He looked up, and gave a small wave to catch her attention. "Ah, your sunkern is ready."

A second later, a chansey skipped out holding the little seed in its arms. It set the pokémon on the ground and skipped back around to the counter.

"Oh – it's not mi—"

The sunkern squealed and bounced into Alphie's lap, shaking in fear of the sentret on the coffee table. Alphie automatically put his hands around the grass-type, letting it nuzzle into his stomach as the 'Scout Pokémon' (so named thanks to Andy's shiny new Pokédex) leaned in to sniff it, too.

"I think it's taken a liking to you," Andy pointed out, nodding towards the sunkern. "Maybe you should catch him."

Alphie hadn't even thought of that. He was so caught up in not catching a pokémon, and then being attacked by a darkness-releasing super sentret, he didn't notice how fond of him the sunkern had actually become.

"But... I don't have anymore pokéballs," Alphie sighed out. The sunkern looked up at him from his stomach, eyes large. "Otherwise I would..."

"Use one of mine. I have a few spare." Andy took his own backpack, which was black (funnily enough) with a few red patterns on it, which was lying on the floor before him and began rummaging through it. It took a second before he found an empty pokéball and handed it to Alphie. "Then you'll have a starter pokémon... and we could be _rivals!_"

Mainland Naihoans seemed to like having rivals. It must have been something to do with the thrill of competition. Alphie really had no interest. Instead of answering Andy's not-so-question, he pressed the little, round button on the pokéball and let it suck the seed pokémon into it. The button glowed red and wobbled, before it finally went completely still. He now had his starter, which he conveniently named (without consulting the sunkern itself), Seed.

"How original," Andy mocked, rolling his eyes.


	7. To Do List

**Chapter Seven**

**To Do List**

Serina jumped at every sound that came from inside the laboratory, especially the second explosion, though she didn't dare make a movement. Her little, pink parole officer peered up at her, huffing cold breaths around her legs. Serina shook violently, though she wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or the fact that she was scared out of her mind. Scared for herself, for Alphie and for both their lives. She could just make out a strong, feminine voice call for a string shot attack.

They were attacking Alphie.

Serina took in a breath and held her hand at her heart. There was an ominous silence inside the room. The voices had stopped, and only the faint sound of a bursting pokéball could be heard. Then, after another murmur, everything once again went quiet. Serina just waited, hoping, and praying to Arceus for Alphie's protection. She hardly cared about herself.

"Happiny!"

The door opened once again, and the little pink pokémon bounced in front of her, gesturing for the smoochum to come back inside. An old, stout woman came to the door, holding a pokéball.

"We don't have any more pokémon, sorry," the woman grunted, holding out the pokéball. "But, you're free to go down the hill and catch one yourself."

Serina took the pokéball with a concerned look. It was light, so it must have been empty. "Where's Alphie?"

"Thank you, and goodbye," the woman answered, turning around with a swish of her white lab coat. The happiny chirped its name and slammed the door for the second time that day.

---

Alphie and Andy spent the next few hours training on Route 233, fending off whatever came their way with quite a lot of trouble, as the little seed was at a fairly low level. Alphie did find out, however, that it knew two attacks, absorb and growth, and was working on a third attack that seemed like a much more effective absorb attack where, instead of using a green aura absorbing bubbles of energy, Seed used more of a green vortex to take the life. Thanks to Andy's Pokédex, Alphie also found out his new pokémon was a male and could use the ability, Chlorophyll.

In truth, Andy's Sentret (named Scout, obviously after the type of pokémon it was) and Blacky were the fittest for battling out in this route, as the other pokémon around had a type advantage over Seed (taillow, combee and starly) or were of the same grass type (other sunkern, hoppip and oddish), so his attacks would be useless. Seed mainly stuck to battling weak rattata, sentret and hoppip (because their only attack was splash, so it was just a case of using absorb over and over).

Alphie had to make plenty of trips to the Pokémon Centre during training, a lot more than Andy had to, that was for sure, though he never thought that Andy would leave him to head to the next town, which was exactly what he did.

Alphie had been booking himself a room for the night at the pokémon centre so he didn't have to spend the night in a stupid tent, when Andy decided to break the news. The boy felt he was strong enough to take on the first gym leader, whoever they were, so he planned to go right through Route 233, to Vera City, and take them on. Though Alphie thought it would have been nice to have gone and cheered his new friend on, he declined his invitation. He wasn't confident enough in Seed yet, Seed wasn't confident enough in himself, and they didn't even have a second pokémon, so there was hardly any point in moving on.

So Alphie was left with only Seed and a random, snoring, fat guy sharing his room for the night. And yes, he minded. He really didn't want to be awake all night. He needed his energy up for training the next day. First on his list of priorities: find Serina. He had a feeling that the girl had left Sproutling Town, he'd seen in it in a random vision a while back. She was holding a pokéball and wiping tears from her face as she walked down the grassy slopes of the mountain.

Which is how Alphie decided on his first destination: Route 232. Going back up that hill seemed tough, but there were a lot more pokémon Seed could handle there and he doubted Serina would want to spend the night alone with no source of warmth.

Second on his list of priorities, catch a new pokémon. He had only just caught Seed, but he wasn't stupid. He couldn't possible beat the entire pokémon league with just one pokémon. He needed a full team of six pokémon, six _strong_ pokémon, to beat the pokémon league. Then he needed all that other stuff the Professor said.

Seed slept fairly soundly on his pillow, next to Alphie's head, so he couldn't exactly use the pillow to block out the noise. However, after at least an hour, Alphie somehow was able to drown the other guy's snoring with his own, as his blackness of the back of his eyelids faded to the white world in his dream.

---

He didn't remember the dream when he woke up, being too distracted by a hungry little Seed bouncing on his chest, wanting breakfast. The fat guy was using the bathroom, so, to avoid a conversation, Alphie headed down to breakfast without cleaning himself up. Unfortunately for him, however, the fat guy ended up coming down and sitting with Alphie anyway. His hair was thick and curly, he was fairly dorky, and he already had a fairly thick beard.

His eyes were blank as he ate his food and listened to loud metal music from the little pieces of plastic in his ears. After a moment or two of eating, the fat guy took out his earpieces and decided to try striking up a conversation.

"Uh, hey are you going to eat that bacon?" he grunted quietly. Alphie looked down at the guy's plate. He had finished his bacon already.

Rolling his eyes, Alphie pushed his plate forward and leaned back in his chair, causing Seed to wobble slightly on his shoulder.

"So you've caught a sunkern, huh?"

Alphie nodded, lifting a piece of egg from his plate to the little yellow pokémon's mouth. Seed nibbled on it happily.

"It's pretty small. I bet my starter could totally own yours."

Alphie smirked and fed a piece of hash brown to Seed. He felt unusually _cool_ today. Probably because he finally had his own pokémon. _His_, and no one else's.

"Not much of a talker? We'll see what you've got to say once I kick your can in a battle."

The fat guy stood up, took a pokéball from his belt and held it out, showing it off. People turned their heads. It looked as if there was going to be an audience.

Alphie stood up and followed the fat guy outside. The street was barely being used, and Alphie didn't see what the point of walking out into Route 233 was, when the street was clear, perfectly good for a battle.

He saw why they had to go out onto the route when the fat guy sent out an onix.

The rock snake towered over Seed, who shook with intimidation. Even Alphie was scared. The thing was _huge_. The fat guy smiled cockily from the other side of the field, ready for an easy win. Alphie bit his lip.

"Seed, dodge it!" he called as the onix came in for a tackle attack. Seed didn't dodge quickly enough and was hit in the side and thrown back a bit. Alphie bit his lip again before ordering an Absorb attack. The familiar green aura covered Seed and linked to the onix, drawing life bubbles through it and healing the sunkern some. The onix roared in pain. Of course, onix were rock-ground types, doubly weak against a grass-type.

Rearing up out of the attack and, upon its master's order, the onix swung its tail, curling it around Seed and squeezing. The sunkern squeaked, growing weaker with every moment. Alphie needed a stronger attack. A stronger Absorb.

"Uhh, try a Mega Drain!" Alphie called, hoping to Arceus that it'd work. The green vortex rose from between Seed's leaves, but dispersed just as it reached the rock snake's head. The attack had failed.

"Onix, use another tackle!"

It was then that Alphie noticed the fat guy on the other end of the battlefield was leaning forward, eyes bulging as he clasped his hands together, rubbing them roughly, creating a black mist inside. He cackled wickedly as the onix darted its head forward and slammed it into the tiny seed. As Seed fainted, the onix raised its head and roared, the black fog seeping from its mouth as it was returned by its trainer.

Alphie numbly turned to his audience from the Pokémon Center. They all stared in awe at the place where the onix was spitting up the black smoke. They had seen it, too. He turned to look back at the fat guy, but he was gone, albeit a fading black mist where he once stood. He couldn't even thank his opponent for the battle? Not even take half his money? How rude.

As Alphie returned Seed, a sudden weight hit his back and pale, skinny arms came around his front, squeezing him. The familiar, chiming voice rang from the throat of his attacker, followed by a small cough.

"Alphie!"


End file.
